Despite cramped seats, numerous delays, and in some cases overbooking, traveling via the modern marvel of aviation is still the fastest and most convenient way to get to your destination. Creature comforts have been introduced over the past few decades to make the experience more tolerable, things like first class, free booze, priority boarding, and in more recent years onboard WiFi. In North America the most popular system that powers said WiFi service at 30,000 feet is Gogo. They recently released some statistics that might turn some heads: 65% of all mobile devices (if it’s on an airplane, isn’t it considered a “mobile device”?) using Gogo are Apple’s iPhone. If you include other iOS devices such as the iPod touch and iPad, that figure jumps to 80%. And Android? That’s just 12%. So despite Android having a larger market share, it’s the Apple fans who actually rule the skys.
“Many smartphone users simply aren’t aware that you can turn your phone service off on a Gogo equipped plane, yet still access the Internet through a Wi-Fi enabled mobile device and surf the Web, send email and access most of the features of your smartphone aside from making a phone call,” said Ash ElDifrawi, Gogo’s chief marketing officer. “It’s clear that iPhone users are ahead of the curve in understanding those capabilities, but more and more people are starting to discover how to connect using their smartphone on a plane.”
Assumptions we can make from this data: If you’re using Android, chances are you don’t have enough disposable income to fly on a regular basis. If you are flying and using Android, then you’re also likely too cheap to want to surf the internet during your trip. This shouldn’t come as a shock to people familiar with the mobile industry as the iPhone is considered a premium device and thus people who own an iPhone have more money to spend.